What's New?

Sigh.

Not much to tell.

Lovers In Paris is over. This cute Korean telenovela captured the hearts of millions of Filipinos. Sadly, yesterday was the last episode. Well, to put it bluntly, it's a Korean version of Pretty Woman with a twist. I'm tempted to buy the DVD copy of all the episodes coz I missed some when it was aired on tv.

Lovers In Paris 2005 copyright SBS TV Korea

Back to reality, I've just purchased a Japanese live action movie called Casshern. At first, I thought, it's another one of those Shaider, Mask Rider Suyuki kind of treatment. But I was surprised when I watched it. As some of the people who reviewed the film, it looks like an anime brought to life. The action sequences are awesome. For me it looks like a Japanese version of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Why do you ask? Well, for starters, most of it's background are in CG. From the buildings to the trees to cars to robots. It was an awesome display of CG work. Though the story is so typically Japanese. In fairness, it was a pretty darn good eyecandy and I liked it. (^-^)




Anyway, I just got home from the gym and I'm really tired. Tired to think and tired to type. So I guess this is it for now. See ya!

Bounce!


Tiresome But Good

Huff!

Ok, first things first. I'm glad that my internet connection is back again. I'll try not to get too excited because, as we say here in Manila... baka mausod. I'm not really sure how to translate that in English so I won't bother. Anyway, just got home from a tiring workout. I hired a Personal Trainer to assist me in my workout so I won't wander off my training. My PT, if you will, checked me out first on what I'm capable of doing. He checked my health and asked on what kind of program that I'm planning to attain. I said to trim down. I don't want to be buff like body builders. Ok, no offense to those body builers. Actually, I really want to be a body builder but my arthritis prevents me on being one. So I took the weight loss program and body tone. Then he guided me on what equipments to use and and how to use it. I was kinda embarrased because we were just working out light and then after a few sessions, I couldn't keep up anymore. IT'S A SIGN! Damn it. Well, let that be a motivation for me. Oh, he asked me to fill up some questionaires and there was this one question that really got me thinking. "What will make you stay on the program?" I would really like to answer "so I could find a girl" but I think that's too low. So I answered, "I really need to trim down badly for my health." Which is probably true... ok ok... I'm on a denial stage here. That should be the right answer for that question. Girls come second. Hehehe... (^-^)

Moving on to other things... I don't know what it is with manga (Japanese comic books). It's like a disease. I got on to reading the comic book version of Battle Royale. At first, I bought the first 3 volumes. After reading the first three, I was kinda bitin (what's the english word for this one? any help would be appreciated). There was this feeling deep inside me that I wanted to buy the other volumes... badly. Most mangas give you that feeling of suspense and they try to make you feel bitin. So when I went to FullyBooked (a bookstore here in Manila), I saw 9 volumes of Battle Royale. My hands got itchy. So I bought volumes 4 & 5. When I got home, to my surprise, I finished the two volumes in just one sitting. Then I remembered that there were 9 volumes in that bookstore so by the next day, I didn't think rationaly and bought volumes 6 & 7. When I got home that day, I also finished reading the two volumes. I thought, Shit! This is getting expensive. In a span of a week, I already lost 2,400 pesos. But there were two more left. Hmm... it got me thinking... I said to myself. After buying that last two volumes, I'll stop. Well, there was nothing left to buy anyway. So I went back the next day and bought the volumes 8 & 9. Although I was bitin with the story, I have no other choice but to stop because there was no other volumes available. But to my surprise, I saw DOMU. Now DOMU is a manga created by Katsuhiro Otomo (the creator of AKIRA), and eversince I first read that book from a friend of mine, I tried looking for one and buy one for my own. And there it was. On the shelf of that bookstore. I was getting agitated. I was really looking for that book for a long time and there it was... tempting me to buy it. In the end I gave in. I went back the next day and bought the damn thing. Now my total expense went from 2,400 pesos to 4,678 pesos just in the span of a week. Damn... I hate my self for giving in to comic books. I remembered last year I was just trying out AKIRA and bought the first volume, to my surprise, after reading the first volume I bought the other 5 volumes to complete the set. It costs me around 15,000 pesos. Damn. Well, no use crying over spilt milk as they say. Anyway, I liked the story, so what the heck... let it pass. (*o*)

Bounce!

Curses!

Sigh!

Just when I was typing my previous post, my broadband connection went down. So much for broadband and speed. Good thing I still have my trusty internal modem. >_>

Bounce!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Astig!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have broadband. Yes!!!

Early this morning, the people from Meridian (an ISP here in the Philippines) came and installed in my PC their stuff. Actually, to tell you the truth I don't know anything about this computer stuff. I don't know what this thing is called or what that thing is for... I'm just a user. I would really like to explain but I don't know how. Stupid me. Anyway, all I know is that this ISP is the same one that we're using at work so I know it's pretty fast. My cousin works for Meridian and asked me if I liked a connection. SO I say GO FOR IT. It only costs P750 a month. I think it's a steal. I'm not really sure. Anyway, I was planning on going to DSL but I guess this one will do. It's still fast. ^_^

Right now I'm having fun. And it's like working at the office... wait a minute... that's not right. Bwehehe... Anyway, I'll go surf the net some more. Unlimited internet access! Wahoo!

Bounce!

Sunday... My Only Rest Day

Sigh!

It's sunday. This is the only time out that we get from office... Sunday's, I mean. We work 6 times a week. I understand that. We have a deadline to finish. Some offices have 5 working days in a week. We got 6. But, if all goes well, and I hope it's true, by the time we start our next project, we'll be working for 5 times a week. Saturdays and Sundays off! Sweet! I do hope they keep their promise. Last job I had always makes promises that they don't keep. Always making us believe. And look at what they got... Bankruptcy. Pfft.

So anyway, it's sunday. Like I said, it's my only rest day for the whole week. I was planning on sleeping the whole morning and wake up at noon. But, my mom woke me up and told me that we were going to church. Man... there goes my sleep. Well, funny thing is... we didn't actually go to A church. Instead, we went to the mall and tried to catch the sunday mass that's being held IN the mall. Oh, btw, for those who are not in the know... all of the malls here in the Philippines conduct Sunday Masses. See how religious and at the same time big spenders Filipinos are. And they say we're poor. Sheesh... Moooving on.

I watched Meet the Fockers. It was hilarious at the same time humiliating. Humiliating in the sense that I can feel Gaylord Focker's (played by Ben Stiller) humiliation. Though I'm not married, I can say this. Meeting the girl's folks tough, but making her folks meet my folks is even tougher. The feeling of anxiety whether the two parents would jive. Anyway, for those who haven't seen it, watch. Just don't bring any kids. It's not for kids. I'm saying this because when I watched the movie, there were a lot of kids in the theater. Now, is that right?

After getting home, I decided to watch a Video CD I recently purchased called SuperSize Me. It's like a docu-drama. Sort of like Farenheit 911 but this one is about his weird experiment that he would go on a one month Mc-FatDiet and try to prove to the whole world that eating at fast food chains is very dangerous to your health. He specifically target Mc Donald's since it was the biggest franchise in the US. While watching it, I was feeling kinda guilty. I, myself, am obesse. And I must admit that I grew to be like this is because of eating at fast food joints, most especially Mc Donalds. I remember when we were kids, my Kuya and I would eat 2 Big Macs each... you heard correctly, 2 BIG MACS EACH. And that's just for the morning. We would also order 2 Big Macs again at lunch time and at dinner time. But that was when we were kids. Somehow the budget was not enough to supply us with 2 bigmacs every meal. Hehehe... Mind you, I got thinner when I was in Fourth Year high school due to CAT or CMT to others. I only got large when I got into college. Our college was surrounded by eateries and especially Mc Donalds. Plus, my Ex was an excellent cook. So I get to taste her meals whenever I'm at their home. So anyway, moving on... in that docu-movie or whatever you call it, he proved that eating almost everyday at Mc Donald's is as dangerous as drinking and smoking. Sheesh... that got me off of my seat. I promised to myself... I'll try not to eat at fast food joints ever... I say TRY because unlike the one who did the docu-movie, he was a Vegan to begin with. Me? I started liking Mc Donald's in an early age. They say eating is an addiction. And that's true. I've been trying to tell that to all my friends and family... that it's dieting or eating less is a hard thing to do. All I can say is I can give it a try. If it works out, that's good. Then I'm on a roll. But if I'm not, I don't know what to do.

Well, as of tomorrow, I'm going to the gym and ask for some sort of program that I can follow so I could lose a couple of pounds or so. I'm trying to set that in my mind. I hope I can do this. I think it's also for the better. I hope I can do this.

Bounce!

Just Another Day... Or So It Seems

Sigh!

Same old, same old. I came to the office trying to start on my work. Sure, I mean, it's my job. That's what I'm supposed to be working on. Anyway, I'm really a 3d animator. And the thing we are doing right now in the office is Optimizing some shots.

Optimizing is cleaning of shots. Meaning, to make the scene file lighter, we have to clean the shots. We have to do this because all the shots that we finished animating will be transfered to INDIA to be composited and lighted. You heard that right... INDIA. I have no qualms with India. It's just that, we were promised that this feature film that we were making is supposed to be All-Filipino. By passing it on to India, we can't say it's all-filipino. It would be a Filipino-Indian venture.

So anyway, moving on... Optimizing is a real drag. The management know it, but just to finish the movie, we have to continue optimizing. Our deadline is set to February. So by then, after we finish optimizing, India would get to start doing their thing... and we get to start on the next project. Hopefully, this time, it's all planned out, not like before.

Optimizing is also one of the reasons why most of my officemates are slacking off. Creative wise, they just don't feel the work. I must admit, I feel that way too. Then, the management just gave us some set of house rules (which was missing eversince we started). When we started, there were no official rules to follow. Nothing written in paper. Which is why it's kinda funny, because, they only gave us these rules at the time we were about to finish the project. All of us were shocked by this. But I must admit (again), we were bound to get it sooner or later. And it all happened earlier.

I don't know whether to be happy or to be sad. Happy because, our office definitley needs to draw the line somewhere. Sad, because, before the rules you can say that we were free as a bird... doing anything we want. No restrictions. No nothing... which to be perfectly honest is bad for a company... especially ours which is just beginning.

To close up this blog, I just wish that in the next project (hopefully, there will be another one), anything will be in order. That's it.

Oh, on a lighter note, Congratulations to my cousing Kuya Kenneth. He was just promoted Vice President of Meryll Lynch. Congratulations again. Bounce!

Battle Royale

Kill or be killed.

Last week, while I was reading one of my friend's blog, I chance up reading Battle Royale. She didn't really tell the whole story. She was just pointing out that the actress who played Gogo Yubari is also in the movie Battle Royale. I fell in love with the person who played Gogo Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama), so I checked out sites that has anything to do with Battle Royale.

After checking out the site, I didn't realize that I was getting hooked on the synopsis. I completely forgot that I was there to check out Chiaki Kuriyama. While reading the synopsis and viewing the scan images, I was getting goosebumps all over. The idea of students killing each other for their own sake to survive "The Program" was kinda disturbing. To be perfectly honest, I had no intention of watching the movie or read the manga. I was not really onto that bloody, gory stories.

Anyway, the day after that. A friend of mine from the office told me that there was this new store in one of the big malls here in Manila. They sell animes and mangas. Btw, most animes that are being sold here came direct from Hongkong or Japan. Anyway, so there, she took me to the store. I was amazed on how extensive their collection of mangas. So I took the liberty of buying one... since it was also payday. heeheh. At first I bought the manga version of "THE RING" or Ringu to some super fanatics out there. It was the same till the end. I didn't know that there was a fourth book called the Spiral.

After reading The Ring, I can't help myself and go back to the store to buy the second part. But by chance, I saw the manga version of Battle Royale. My hands started to itch and something inside me is telling me to buy it. Curiosity perhaps? My mind was going... what's the big deal about the story anyway. So after some hard thinking... I decided to buy the first volume. As I was about to pay, I realized that they were also an anime store. Though Battle Royale is a live action movie, I took a chance and asked if they have one. By luck, they have a Video CD copy of it. After that, I didn't know what took over me. I bought the first volume of the manga AND the Video CD.

We who are about to die: THIRD YEAR-CLASS B, Shiroiwa Junior High School

I can't wait to get back home. I was so excited and at the same time nervous. The reviews said it was brutal and gory. That's both for the manga and the movie. So when I got back home, I decided to play the movie first. To be honest, it blew my mind! The movie was great. Kinda freaky and disturbing... but it was great. After finishing the movie, I jumped to reading the manga. It was also great... though there were some differences in the manga compared to the movie. But they said that the manga was the closest version to the Novel. Btw, Battle Royale was a novel by Koushun Takami (who also happened to be the writer of the manga) and was later adapted to the big screen by the late Kinji Fukasaku. I was kinda craving for more Battle Royale so earlier or should I say last night, I bought volume 2 of the manga. The manga is more brutal than the movie. But seeing it in live action makes it more disturbing.

So to all of you who are reading my blog, try watching the movie or reading the manga. Battle Royale is a very good film. But be warned... it's not for the feint of heart.

Bounce!

Kung Fu Hustle

It's in the theaters for 2 weeks now and it's just now that I had the opportunity to watch the film. The movie I'm talking about (and most of the people) is Kung Fu Hustle. I'm not really sure if it's the real translation, but it kinda have a nice ring to it. Anyway, Kung Fu Hustle is a film by Stephen Chow, the creator of the hit movie Shaolin Soccer. I don't know if it's already shown in the States and in other parts of the world so be warned. Spoilers here.

Anyway, I just watched it earlier and it was kick @$$! The Visual Effects people who made the film were really good! One can't help but compare it to the Matrix and the Lord of the Rings. Stephen Chow proved that Chinese Style Choreography in fighting STILL looks good when Chinese do it. They made the burly brawl in the Matrix look like it was just a common street brawl. The story is about a good guy who wants to be bad because he had a most horrible experience when he was little. He tried to help a little girl but he ended up being beaten to a pulp by the bullies. Since then, his thought in life was the bad guys always wins and have the good things in life. Anyway, I won't give away much of the story. Let's just say he found his right path in the end.

I give a lot of credit to Stephen Chow. He really poured his heart and soul making this film. I wish that our movie industry is that good too so it would be recognized in other parts of the world.

Bounce!

Amazing Race

I'm a huge fan of the reality game show called The Amazing Race. I haven't missed a single season ever since... except for the 6th Season. I didn't get to watch the start of the Amazing Race 6 because our cable was cut off. My mom forgot to pay the bills and so it was cut off... along with the telephone. Thank God that last december I got to pay all the bills.

Luckily, The Amazing Race 6 isn't finished yet. It's only somewhere in the middle. I get to see the father and daughter tandem, Gus and Hera, get eliminated. And AXN would preview this Sunday and the next the beginning of the race. Yahoo! So far, the game is interesting. The only thing that bothers me is that there are alot of psychos in this race... particularly Jonathan and Victoria. Most especially jonathan. He's a real pain in the @$$. I feel sorry for Victoria. Also, there are two teams who are models. They tried to make a model alliance but quickly crumbled as fast as it was made. And there's this married Wrestlers. hehehe... Now that's new.

Don't ask me who I'm rooting for, but you can ask who I wanted to be eliminated. Yup, you guessed it. I do wish that Jonathan and Victoria gets eliminated. For Victoria's sake. She needs to take the time off. I do hope that that Jonathan gets hurt seriously or something. He does deserve it. Anyway, enough of the ranting. Now that I have cable, I'm gonna stick to The Amazing Race like glue. hehehe... ^_^

Bounce!

Arthritis Attack

I've been absent from work for 2 days now because of my Arthritis. People keep saying that I'm too young to have arthritis. Well, I don't really understand as well, why I'm having this sort of attacks. It started way back in college in 1996, I think... or 95. So as you can see, I've been experiencing this for quite some time now. I'm 28 now. And I was only 20 when it began. Some say because I'm obesse or fat. I don't think so. I'm not that fat back then when it started. And there were alot of people fatter than me but didn't experience this kind of problem. So I assume it was hereditary. My mom has it, my aunts have it and so did my grandmother who passed away. Anyway, I take this medication to relieve me of the pain. And I kind of got used to the pain.

It's kinda boring when I get arthritis attacks. I can't move around alot you see. If I need to move, I have to plan it. When I watch the TV, I have to like stay in the living room the whole day. So I really have to decide if I really have to watch TV or not. But now, since I'm on day 2, and my arthritis is kinda dissipating, I'm getting mobile again. That's why I'm in front of my computer and typing this blog. hehehe. Earlier, I just finished watching Initial D (a japanese cartoon about street racing on the mountains of japan. It's cool to watch, especially if you like cars alot) and Great Teacher Onizuka (a japanese cartoon about a former street gang leader who decided to do good things in life by being a teacher in middle school). I was looking for my motivation to start on my "proposed" web comic. Someday, I'll start doing it. But as of now, I'm still trying to motivate myself.

Well, that's it for now. See ya!

Bounce!

Addiction

Recently, I just installed WarCraft 3 on my PC. One might ask, "WarCraft3? But that's prehistoric, man?" Well, as I've pointed out sometime in my Blog, I only bought my new PC last December. And when I did have a computer, it was like jurassic too. It only runned on Windows 95 and it was I think below pentium 2. So now that I have enough moolah to buy one, I bought a faster PC and up to date.

Anyway, back to my story. I've recently installed WarCraft3 in my PC. And I must say, it's quite addictive. It's fun to play and the story is great. Actually, I played WarCraft 3 the whole day. And my eyes now hurt. Hehehehe... ToT

I also bought Doom 3. I kinda missed playing First Person Shoot-em ups. It was kinda nauseating at first but soon my eyes adjusted to the screen. It's full of surprises. I tried playing it last night, and it gave me the creeps. So I tried to play it earlier this morning.... and it still gave me the creeps.

Right now I'm planning to buy an original Half Life 2 so I can connect to battle.net and play with other players. That's the sad thing about cracked software. You can't really use it online. Well, the cracked WC3 and Doom 3 is only temporary. I'm saving money to buy originals. I just bought them to try it out. And sadly, here in the Philippines, most softwares are pirated so what's a person to do right?

Anyway, I've got to go. I'm gonna play WarCraft 3 again. See ya!

Bounce!

It's Been Awhile

Wow. It's been awhile since I wrote something on my blog. I've been kinda busy lately. Well, actually, I can't use my blog in the office and when I do get home, it's too late in the night that I have to sleep instead of updating. Sigh.

Anyways.. I'd like to greet everyone a Happy New Year. I hope this year would be a prosperous one. I hope there're no more "serious" calamaties that would come our way like that tsunami in south asia, the chains of storms that hit the Philippines and earthquakes. Well, living in the pacific rim and in the ring of fire, we can't help it if we're struck by calamities everyday. Looks like we'll have to live with it.

Today's my mother's birthday, so Happy Birthday, MOM! You never look a day older. hehehe. ^_^ I have to share something funny... yesterday morning, I was asking my mom for a chinese packet. You know, those red little envelopes that the chinese use to put some cash and give it to friends and relatives during Chinese New Year (or I think any occassion). Anyway, she said wait and she'll get one... after fixing our breakfast that is. While fixing our breakfast, she went on and said that tomorrow's her birthday, which is today. So she bluntly requested a Hair Dryer as a gift. I frowned. Well, because I don't really like being ordered especially by my mother. Anyway, she then said, "okay, instead of giving me a hair dryer, why won't you just give me Five hundred pesos and I'll be the one to buy the dryer. The only problem with that is, it won't be a surprise anymore." Sheeesh... she's persistent eh. So I said... "yeah, yeah, what ever. So where's the chinese packet I was asking?" She frowned and went to her room to get the chinese packet. After getting it, she gave it to me... ofcourse. Then I slid five thousand pesos inside and gave it to her. I said, "Surprise! And you thought you won't be surprised anymore." hehehe... Then she cried. Ofcourse, she was happy. It's the first time I saw my mom cried after giving her a gift. It made my heart big. hehehe.

I know I won't find time to buy her a gift that day, so I gave it to her that morning.

Bounce!